The Plan
by TempestJo
Summary: Sheldon finds the secret to attracting Beautiful women and decides to try it out on the most beautiful woman he knows, the one he's had a secret crush on ever since she moved in across the hall...
1. Chapter 1

When he got home that day, he hurried to his room, the small book in the palm of his hand, clutched against his side. His secret. He had been at his favourite store, when it had caught his eye. Laughing his strange laugh, he'd picked it up, what secrets could it hold that a physicist such as himself would not already know?

He soon found out. His eyes had raised, thoughtful. Here, in the most unlikely of places, had he found the answer?

He purchased the book, and the secrets within.

Alone in his room, he pulled out his notebook and set to work.

And so the story begins...

**Step One: Be Appealing.**

Sheldon knocked on her door, his usual pattern. He could see her shadow under the door, waiting for him to finish. It was one of the things he liked about her. When she opened the door, he inclined his head towards her slightly and gave a tiny smile, the only one he could manage without scaring small children and full grown university students. "Good Morning Penny, how are you today?"

She looked back at him warily. "I'm ok. How are you?"

He nodded. "Fine thank you. Now, the reason I am here, I will be going to the grocer's after work this evening, I know you have the late shift, is there anything you require? Milk perhaps?"

She looked slightly scared. "I'm good thanks." She paused. "Sheldon, what are you doing?"

He frowned. "I'm trying to be charming. Is it not working?"

Her mouth opened slightly. "It would be, if I didn't already know you."

"Oh." His frown deepened. "I neglected to take that into consideration." He stared at her puzzled. "How does one be charming to one a person already knows?"

Penny blinked. Somebody must have slipped him something in his morning tea, she was gonna have to have another talk with Leonard about how it was mean to take advantage of Sheldon's trusting nature. He had so little of it that destroying what there was could very well mean the end of the world as she knew it.

She decided to play along, for now. "Well, you could hold doors, and buy dinners, and help out when you're needed."

"I already do that." He looked confused.

She smiled. "Yes, when you don't open your mouth to tell someone that they are wrong, or that you're smarter than them, you can be a very charming guy."

He looked dismayed. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

~S~

He brought her milk anyways. And Chocolates. And Ice Cream. He had puzzled between the Rocky Road and the Caramel Swirl, and probably would have still been there an hour later, had not an elderly lady whom he'd held the door for on the way in stopped and smiled up at him.

"Tough decision." She remarked.

He thought about telling her that no, really, it wasn't, choosing whether to focus on string theory or quantum mechanics had been a tough decision, but then he remembered Penny's words. He looked down at the lady, who was probably only about 5 feet tall, and suddenly she reminded him of his meemaw.

"Which do you recommend?" He asked instead.

"For you, or for someone else?" She asked, eyeing the box of chocolates and the two small cartons of milk in his basket.

"The girl across the hall." He replied.

The woman smiled. "Put those back. You're going to want French Vanilla, and some fresh strawberries."

Sheldon thought it over. "Oh." He said simply. "Thank you."

When he later presented the groceries to Penny, she had stared at the ice cream and the strawberries and pulled him into the apartment. "Will you share with me?"

He held up his grocery bag. "Will you make me spaghetti with hot dogs cut up in it?"

Her smile had lit up the room. "Sure. We'll have this for desert!"

He smiled back. "Ok."

The strawberries and ice cream had the sweet taste of success.


	2. Chapter 2

STEP TWO: LEAD AN INTERESTING LIFE

Sheldon frowned. Lead an interesting life? But he did. He read the section again. Refer not to failures, but that you tried. He shook his head. What an odd little book, but he had already completed step one, he was now committed. He sighed, and went across the hall.

Knock knock knock. "Penny."

Knock knock knock. "Penny."

Knock knock knock. "Penny."

He could hear her talking to someone on the other side of the door, as she came to answer it.

When she opened the door she was smiling. "Hey Sheldon, whats up?"

"You have company, this is a bad time."

"No." She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into the the room. "Mom, this is my neighbour Sheldon. He's a genius."

Sheldon shifted awkwardly. Penny's mother! He resigned himself. "Hello." He said. "It's .. good to meet you."

Penny's mom looked just like Penny, only older, her hair was darker too, more of a brown colour. She blinked up at him, and then whispered to Penny, "Is he the one that brought you ice cream and strawberries? Or the one that can't talk?"

"Strawberries." Penny replied, knowing that Sheldon could easily hear them, even though he was pretending he couldn't.

"Well, Sheldon, it's nice to meet you. What do you do?" Penny's mom smiled brightly at him.

"I solve mysteries of the universe." He replied. That was interesting right?

"Oh?" Penny's mom looked dubious. "How?"

Sheldon blinked. "Well, I led an expedition to the arctic this past summer." Leave out the part about the failure due to sabotage, he reminded himself.

Penny's mom was smiling at him, and touching him on the arm. He gave Penny a look, and she smiled and sent him a thumbs up.

He was utterly confused.

"Sheldon also plays paintball." Penny added. "He's a pretty good shot."

"I'm from Texas." He explained, wondering when Penny's mom was going to stop smiling at him. It was kind of scary.

"Oh, do you like football?"

"My brother was the quarterback on the local team." Sheldon hedged.

"You didn't play yourself?"

"Mom," Penny interrupted. "Sheldon went to university when he was 10, he didn't really have time."

"TEN!" Penny's mom exclaimed. "Good lord, you really are smart."

"I have two doctorates and have been lecturing since I was eighteen." Sheldon clarified, leaving out the fact that he had yet to win a Nobel Prize.

Penny's mom was smiling again. "What an exciting life you must lead!"

Sheldon looked at Penny. "You might say that." Staring at white boards for hours was not really exciting, though Halo night was fun.

Penny was smiling at him too. Interesting. He would be writing this entire transgression down in his journal.

"So why did you come over Sheldon?" Penny suddenly asked.

"Oh, I was wondering if you wanted.." He paused, sending a quick glance at her mother, "to join me in a expedition tomorrow evening?"

Penny looked puzzled, and then blinked. "The Belgians?"

Sheldon nodded.

"I'm in. See you there at seven."

He said goodbye and hurried out, but he heard her mother speaking as he shut the door. "Oh you're going to go on an expedition with some Belgian friends? That's so exciting!"

Sheldon doubted the Belgians would be so excited when Sheldor and Queen Penelope logged in and destroyed their castle, but then, he always enjoyed a good ransacking, so yes, he supposed it was exciting.

He snorted a giggle as he entered his own apartment. Step two accomplished. He was on a roll.


	3. Chapter 3

STEP THREE: AIM HIGHER

He didn't want to aim higher. He wanted Penny. He might know very little about human interaction, but he was fairly certain that asking out women prettier than she was was not a very good way to get her to go out with him.

He also wasn't sure that he was quite ready to ask her out. On the other hand, early rejection would mean that he could once again devote his entire mind to physics, and little time had been wasted.

He shrugged his shoulders. He had nothing to lose.

When Penny came home that evening, he was sitting on the steps with his laptop.

"Oh." She frowned. "Are you and Leonard fighting again?"

"No."

"Then does he have a female over?" She looked confused, it was always confusing to find Sheldon where you least expected him, he always looked so out of place.

He shook his head. "No."

"Then what are you doing out here sweetie?" She asked, staring down at him with a crooked smile on her face.

"Waiting for you." He replied, closing his laptop and standing up, shoving one hand in his pocket, a curious look on his face. "Did you have a good day today Penny?" He tilted his head at her, studying her.

"No." She frowned at him slightly. "A three year old dumped milk on my shoes and the cooks screwed up half the orders, so I got barely any tips."

"Ah." He nodded, businesslike. "Well then, perhaps I'll talk to you another time." He started up the stairs.

She grabbed his arm. "Don't be silly, what do you want?"

He looked slightly nervous for a second. "I was thinking of trying out a new restaurant on Saturday, around six. It should give us enough time to have an acceptable meal and still make it back in time for 8:15."

"Us?" Penny questioned.

"Oh." His eyebrows went up. "I forgot that part. Yes, Penny, will you accompany me to a new restaurant I wish to try out this coming Saturday at six PM." He paused, then added as an after thought, "I will pay, of course. And then if you wish you can join me for Laundry night as well, that part is inconsequential." He twitched slightly.

"Wait a minute." Penny stopped mid step. "Just us?"

"Yes." He stopped as well and looked at her quizzically. "Did I forget to say that too? Good lord, what's becoming of me?"

"You're nervous." Penny stated, her head tilted to the side. This was new.

He responded by checking his pulse. "I believe you must be right. I should go have some herbal tea, perhaps one specifically meant to sooth, I believe I have some blackcurrant, or perhaps a nice mint would be better." He started climbing the stairs again.

Penny blinked and jogged up the steps after him. "Sheldon, are you asking me out on a date?"

"Would you say yes if I was?" He queried, refusing to look at her, his arm clutching his laptop closer to himself, as if in defense.

"Yes." She replied watching him warily. What was he up to?

"Oh." His lips twitched and he allowed himself a quick glance at her. "Then yes." He smiled timidly.

Penny smiled back, suddenly in a better mood. "Ok, it's a date."

"Yes." He repeated. They had reached their floor. He paused outside his door. "Would you care for some tea?"

She thought about it. "I think I'll go have a shower. But I'll come by later, for Halo. And, I'll be ready at six on Saturday." She reminded him.

He nodded and went inside.

Penny shook her head as she opened the door.

She was going on a date with Sheldon.

A DATE.

WITH SHELDON.

Huh.

She grinned. "Finally!" She whispered to herself.

She wondered if it would take another four years to get him to sleep with her. The man moved slower than molasses. Of course, dating his roommate probably hadn't helped.

She should really stop drinking.

Maybe take up tea.


	4. Chapter 4

STEP FOUR: DRESS WELL

Sheldon sighed, for the forth time since flipping open his journal and the book to examine the next step. The other three had gone well, he had got to have dinner with Penny, and had inadvertently impressed her mother (which he noted, still creeped him out). He had even asked Penny out on a date, and she had accepted. He not only got to take Penny out, but he was going to get to try that new restaurant out as well, kill two birds with one stone so to speak, which was very efficient.

But now it was the afternoon of the date. And he had to get dressed. He'd been planing on wearing his beloved plaid coat over his green lantern shirt with his brown pants, but now he was remembering the last time Penny had been through his closet.

While she seemed to like his shirts, she had loathed the plaid, which was odd, because only the other day he'd seen her raving about a plaid silk scarf, so he knew it wasn't the pattern that she was opposed to.

He studied the coat closer. Perhaps it was the colour? Mustard was a hard colour to match, unless you wore tan, and he'd never seen her in that colour, other than the sun kissed glow which covered most of her skin, except the location of the soup tattoo, which was the only was that he knew Penny's natural skin tone, a soft creamy paleness...

He blinked and shoved the plaid coat back in his closet. Perhaps she only liked plaid in moderation. He needed to look good, but not too good. The book stated quite seriously that men who hope to date beautiful women should never be prettier than the woman when they went out. His eyebrow had shot up when he read that. He wasn't quite sure how anyone could be prettier than Penny when she got dolled up, let alone him. Rather flummoxing notion, that.

He shifted some coat racks. She had seemed to enjoy that suit she had picked out for him. Though he still hadn't found the pants. Perhaps the black coat over his grey flash shirt with the red undershirt?

Laying them out on his bed, he nodded. That could work. But pants. He had brown pants, and tan pants, and plaid pants, and... Frowning he went to the closet and reached to the very back of the top shelf.

Jeans.

A birthday present from Missy. He'd scowled at her, but she'd said he might need them someday, so he'd kept them. That was several years ago, they might not even fit. She'd also given him... He reached around again, still staring at the jeans in his left hand with distaste. He probably wouldn't be allowed into the restaurant wearing jeans, however much he might enjoy Penny's reaction to seeing him in them.

Lips quirking suddenly, he imagined himself saying "bazinga" when she protested that she thought he hadn't owned any.

Finally, his groping right hand found what he was looking for. Another gift from Missy, this time not jeans. They were cut like jeans, but they were a dark grey.

"_Dressy but casual Shelly, these are 'date' pants. They're fancy, yet understated, and you can wear them with anything. Except that plaid coat. You really should get rid of that."_ He remembered her saying, with an earnest look on her face. Really, what was with the female dislike of his coat? And why did his mother and sister want him to experience dating so bad? He was quite sure they knew what dating led to, sexual activities, broken hearts, marriage, children... Ah. That was it. His mother wanted intelligent grandchildren. He snorted and shook his head.

The 'date' pants fit. A bit tighter in some areas than he was accustomed to, but he did like the way they looked with the flash shirt. Not as sharp as that powder blue suit he'd tried on when Penny had taken him shopping, but still, good. And muted colours, so that whatever Penny wore not clash. Smiling, he checked himself out in the mirror. Not bad. Not bad at all. He added the coat, and with a last wistful glance at the plaid one in the closet, he walked out of the room, totally unaware of what the combination of greys and black had done for his eyes.

Six o'clock on the dot, there was the knock. Penny swallowed, she was nervous, which was ridiculous, why should she be nervous? It was only a date, with Sheldon, at a new restaurant he hadn't personally vetted yet, and the potential for catastrophe was sky high, and, oh yeah. That's why. Add to that list that she liked him, really liked him, and really wanted to go out with him again, and there you go.

Bob's your uncle. She smoothed down the fabric of her new dress, waiting for him to finish knocking. It was a halter neck dress, with a full skirt, like the white one Marilyn Monroe had worn in that iconic scene, only this one wasn't white, it was a soft blue grey. It made her eyes look greener, and her hair look softer, and her skin glow. She was wearing blue heels, that would match Sheldon's eyes exactly, that was why she had bought them, a year ago. She'd never worn them out before, just around the house, they were too special to waste on some tall idiot who though he might have Sheldon's height, and maybe even dark hair and blue eyes, would never measure up in the ways that count.

Finally, the knocking was done. She stepped forward, and opened the door, with a smile.

"Wow. You look, AMAZING." She blurted out, noticing what he hadn't, that his eyes seemed bluer than ever.

His cheeks coloured slightly, and he fidgeted. "You look very attractive tonight." He managed, swallowing. She looked better than that, she looked hot, and sexy, and beautiful.

She smiled up at him, he was staring at her, and he'd said something, but he seemed unaware of it, had she actually knocked him speechless? "Should we go?"

He seemed to snap out of it, and gravely offered her his arm as his Meemaw had told him gentlemen did when he'd asked about a couple heading into a restaurant. He'd been four. He hoped the knowledge wasn't obsolete. The smile on her face as she tucked her hand in the crook of his arm assured him it wasn't.

"Are you capable of walking in those heels?" Sheldon asked, looking down as they descended the stairs. "The restaurant is near here, I thought we might walk, it's a nice night."


	5. Chapter 5

STEP FIVE: MAKE HER LAUGH

It happened by accident. He'd reached to brush a strand of her hair off his arm, and his fingers had brushed her side. Her eyes had widened, and she'd jumped to the side, with a shriek, looking at him with wide eyes.

His own filled with amusement. "Penny? Are you ticklish?" His eyebrow was up. Memories of Missy's only weakness flitted through his brain, and unconsciously he reached for her again.

"No." She lied, trying to avoid his reaching hand, without letting go of his arm. Dinner had been nice, he was still Sheldon, she was still Penny, they had disagreed, agreed, one upped each other, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun on a date without drinking booze. As usual, once they were one on one, just them, he had relaxed, his phobias had slipped and let down, she had come to realize a long time ago that they were strongest when he felt left out, or he wanted attention, and he often did.

When they were alone, he had her attention, and he turned into a sweet, slightly bad tempered, child genius who had been forced to grow up too soon and so clung to the comforts of his youth.

Grilled cheese sandwiches with happy faces on them.

Comic books.

Playing dress up.

His arms were longer than hers, and his fingers found her side again, his other arm pinning her own against his side, holding her captive as he tickled her. Her laughter floated down the street, and soon he was laughing too.

Not his usual breathy laugh, but a devious low chuckle, that he probably hadn't used in decades.

"Stop." She gasped, "Stop, please."

Immediately he stopped, and resumed walking as if nothing had happened, only shooting her a brief glance that made her breath catch in her throat, there were little wrinkles around his eyes, and they were still crinkled in silent amusement.

She sent him a patented evil Penny glare, and he merely raised his eyebrows and smirked, then tried to blow up her mind with one hand.

She mimicked him perfectly, and he gasped a laugh, which made her laugh again.

They paused to cross the street, and Penny grinned up at him, and pressed herself up against his side, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

People didn't tickle Penny and get away with it.

He stood very still and looked down at her without moving his head, unsure of what was happening.

She ran her hand up the front of his suit, slowly, taking her time, they had to wait for the light to change anyways, and when he swallowed, she batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. "So Dr. Cooper." She said in her most falsely innocent tone. "Are you ticklish too?"

His cheek jumped, and his eyes shifted. "No."

"If you were Pinocchio, your nose would be growing." She patted the flash symbol on his chest with her hand, loosening her grip on him. She didn't want to overwhelm him, and he was starting to twitch, never a good sign.

"It is physically impossible for ones nose to grow as suggested in that story, but I suppose the reference could be used in a double entendre, in fact I'm sure Howard has used it at least twice on some poor female." He commented dryly.

Penny's mouth dropped open and she looked up at him in surprise. "Well played." She acknowledged, licking her finger and pretending to touch his shoulder with it, making a noise that reminded him of bacon sizzling in a pan.

He relaxed again, and smiled slightly, making her giggle.

The light changed, and she pulled him forward, "Come on Mr. Witty, laundry awaits us!"

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Penny, penny, penny... I'm not Mr, ANYTHING. I have two Phd's." He reminded her severely. "But yes, I am quite witty, aren't I? It's one of my most endearing traits."

"Aside from your little practical jokes?" She commented, with a straight face.

"Well." He grinned, "I do enjoy the occasional Bazinga!"

She was laughing again, and he didn't know why, but she wasn't laughing AT him, so he didn't really care. She had a nice laugh. It was loud, and it filled the space she occupied, but it wasn't unpleasant, even if it did seem to have adverse effects on his heart rate.

But then, it always had.


	6. Chapter 6

STEP SIX AND SEVEN: Be Sincere... But not too sincere, lest you be labelled forever-more "friend"

Oh dear. He was already her friend. She had said so. Granted, it was a while back. And his other reading material had highly recommended becoming friends with the lady of your desire, that it would promote longevity in the relationship.

He reviewed the past in his mind. He was always sincere, so he had that covered. Leonard, on the other hand was overly sincere, so that would be why that relationship had failed. He understood it now. The step should read, be sincere, but don't bend over backwards or let her think she's right when she's wrong.

He already did that. Excellent.

He finished jotting down his notes about their date, which had ended with a sort of kiss, as protocol for first dates directed, it was light, and quick, and then he had run away, because his heart was pounding he felt sure he was going to have a heart attack, but the nurse on the nurse hotline had assured him that it was merely excitement brought on by the kiss, and that he might want to take up meditation if he planned to repeat the activity.

Meditation was hokum.

He had settled for tea instead, and then laundry. Laundry was very therapeutic. By the time Penny had joined him, he was happily sorting his laundry, bleachables, lights, brights, darks...

She smiled at him nervously from the doorway. "You alright now?"

He nodded and carefully measured fabric softener and laundry detergent into his machines.

"Are you going to run away again if I come in?"

He looked confused. "Why would I do that?"

"Because we kind of kissed, and then you were gone, like flash!" She looked at him with wide eyes. "Did you forget? Oh god, did I break you?"

"I thought I was having a heart attack." He said simply. "Turns out I wasn't. The nurse recommended meditation, but that's hokum, so I had tea."

"Nurse?"

He nodded. "From the nurse hotline."

"You have them on speed dial don't you?" She grinned knowingly.

"Of course. Number four, for future reference."

Penny dumped her laundry in a machine. She had changed from her dress to pair of shorts and a tank top, he was still dressed as he had been, minus the coat. "Whats the other three?"

"1 is 911, 2 is my mother, 3 is you, 4 is the nurse hotline, 5 is thai, 6 is chinese..."

"I'm on your speed dial? That's sweet!" Penny smiled at him.

"Is it?" He said blankly.

"Yes, I'd kiss you, but I don't want you to have another near heart attack." She teased.

He raised his eyebrows. "The nurses recommended that you do so as much as possible actually, in the hopes of the effect reducing due to exposure." He said sarcastically, so that he wouldn't twitch.

"Either you're being sarcastic, or you're telling the truth." She narrowed her eyes.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, and waited.

She was smirking.

Drat.

Suddenly her arm slid around his waist and she peeked up at him. "Well, I suppose if the nurses said so, I should follow their orders."

"They do prefer it when their orders are followed." He hedged. "Preferably, it appears, without questions being asked, because they always threaten me with hypodermic needles and say that they could make it look like an accident, which plainly it wouldn't be.."

She went on tip toe and kissed him.

He froze.

She waited.

He didn't run.

"Pulse check?" She said seriously.

His hand snapped to his neck and after a few seconds, he blinked. "Rapid."

"Heart check?"

His hand went to his chest. "Rapid."

"Numbness in the arms?"

His eyes moved slightly. "None."

She smiled. This was kind of fun. She kissed him again.

"Pulse check?"


	7. Chapter 7

STEP EIGHT: Play Cat and Mouse.

There was a storm outside, and the power was out. Also the internet. So Howard had brought over a game, which reminded Sheldon strongly of the questionnaire he'd filled out when he'd tried to end Penny's gaming addiction by finding her a man.

The questions were are rather odd. But he was very good at it, in fact, he appeared to be winning. The last question had left Raj giggling like a school girl, Leonard blushing and staring at the floor, Howard staring at Penny, and Penny glaring at Howard.

"A toothbrush, surely that's obvious." He had sighed, "What else could it be?"

"And Sheldon gets another one." Howard had grimaced. "I should have brought a different game."

They had agreed to stop playing and instead were tossing random questions around, which they each had to answer. He wasn't sure he liked this game as much, it seemed rather personal.

"On a scale of one to five," Howard questioned, "five being all the time, and 1 being never, how often do you initiate sex?"

"Oh you got this question from the Age of Conan membership thing, right?" Penny nodded. "I'm a five."

Leonard had shrugged and held up three fingers, Raj had held up 4 and Howard held up two. They were all looking at him now.

"One." He replied, as if it should be obvious.

"Favourite sex position?" Howard said again, though it was Raj's turn to question. Howard was smiling lewdly. "I like good old doggy style."

Raj had nodded.

Leonard had swallowed and looked away, muttering something about woman on top, and Penny had glared at them all.

"Let me guess, you big ol'five, you like to be on top." Howard guessed.

"Nope." Penny smiled.

"Oh good." Sheldon muttered to himself.

"What do mean OH GOOD?" Howard practically screeched.

Sheldon shrugged. "I like to be on top."

"But you're a one!"

"Classic cat and mouse." Sheldon shrugged again. "Only I'm not sure, if I'm a cat, or a mouse, but I don't like initiating, but I do like being in charge."

"You know what? Let's play another game, like, Old maid." Leonard interrupted.

"No no no." Howard held up a hand. "What does your preferences have to do with Penny?"

"Oh didn't you know?" Penny looked up innocently. "We're dating."

"You two." Howard waved between them. "Are dating? You're having.." His voice dropped, "Coitus?"

"No." Sheldon replied. "Not at present, but I am now reassured that we will be compatible in that aspect, should we wish to do that."

Penny was nodding. "Yeah we might."

Sheldon lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "I'm sure you'll let me know."

"I will."

"I don't know, I THINK we're still on earth." Howard replied to Raj's whispering.

Leonard groaned. "Do you really have to discuss this in front of us?"

"Well you asked." Sheldon tilted his head at him.

Penny leaned over as whispered in Sheldon's ear, and then they both stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Leonard asked.

"To work on my blood pressure issues." Sheldon replied. "Good night."


	8. Chapter 8

STEP NINE: Make her feel special.

Make Penny feel special. He frowned. She was special, didn't she know that already? How could he possibly make her feel special, if he hadn't already? He chose her over Raj, he sang her soft kitty, when she wasn't even ILL, he had taken her for dinner, and helped her with her laundry. He didn't do those things for other people, she must know that.

He usually made people buy HIM dinner.

The internet suggested flowers, roses, but Penny liked bright things, like her Penny Blossoms. Daisies?

They usually were white, but had seen some that were blue once. They had been fed blue food colouring or something, sort of like he'd done with his fish...

He paused. Raised his eyebrows. She did like bright things. Glow in the dark daisies? They did have an impressive shelf life, almost as good as those austro things. He checked his watch. He would need to begin immediately.

He kept them in his room. He'd bought the freshest ones he could find, and feeding them strong doses, he needed the effect to take place while the flowers were still fresh. On the second day, he shut off his lights, and waited. They glowed faintly in the darkness.

It would have to do, he decided. He could continue to dose them at her house, to strengthen the results, it would be easy enough.

He gathered the vase, and went across the hall, entering her apartment with his spare key. He could hear her in the shower, she'd just gotten home from work, the late shift. Turning off lights as he went, he placed the vase on the table and sat on the couch to wait, flicking on the tv so she would know someone was there, he did not wish to scare her after all.

The water turned off.

"Hello?" She called out.

"Good evening Penny." He called back. "Dr. Who is on." He smiled to himself.

There was a scuffling noise in her room, and she came through the door hastily dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, rubbing her hair with a towel. "No it's not, it's only airs on..." She looked around. "The lights are off?"

He clicked off the tv, and waited, watching the daisies.

"What the..." Penny's mouth dropped open. "There are... Those are... But.."

"Daisies." He smiled. "I made them glow in the dark. They will require more dosing for the effect to get stronger, but..."

"You got me flowers? And you made them glow in the dark?" She was staring down at them in awe, barely touching them with the tip of a finger. "You can do that?"

He stood up. "Don't you like them?"

"I love them." She whispered. "They're gorgeous! I don't understand.. Nobody has ever made my flowers glow in the dark for me before."

"I may have to write a paper on it." He agreed. "I was thinking of trying out carnations next week."

"Not roses?" She asked, she sounded like she was teasing, but her voice was different.

He stared at her. "You don't like roses, why would I do roses?"

The next thing he knew, her arms were around his neck and he was being hugged tight enough that he was beginning to doubt his ability to breath. "Thank you." She was whispering in his ear.

He let himself hug her back, he was getting better at it.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: This is, The End. The last chapter. :)**

STEP TEN: Do your homework

Sheldon sat cross-legged on his bed, papers spread out about him, clipboard in one hand, pen in the other, carefully taking notes. He was so absorbed, that he didn't notice when his door opened, or that someone had entered his room until Penny sat down beside him.

Maybe he didn't notice because he didn't care if she came in, maybe he noticed but just didn't say anything.

"Whatcha doin?" She asked, reaching for a piece of paper and picking it up. "Credit reports?"

"Comparative analysis." He declared absentmindedly. "The ones marked in blue are mine, the ones in red are your fathers."

"My FATHERS?"

"Yes. I have noticed over the years that you both admire and fear your father, I suspect you were very much a 'daddy's girl'. I am trying to ascertain what it was you admired about him, and whether I have similar traits."

"Why?" Penny frowned.

"It's common knowledge that women want to have a fling with a cad, and marry their dad." Sheldon said. "I don't think I'm fling material Penny."

"Common knowledge? I've never heard that before."

"It's in the book of secrets, it must be truth." Sheldon replied calmly. "It appears that while I don't share you fathers penchant for speeding, we do have similar saving habits, and I admire his stock choices though I would never do that, and he is quite right in purchasing the new tractor it will repay him tenfold due to the new style of engine, but I really can't agree with his choice of football teams Penny, or his.." He stopped, because Penny had her hand over his mouth.

"Sheldon, you didn't need to run background checks on my dad, or however you got this stuff. I love my dad because he is always there for me when I need him. And so are you. That's enough."

"Oh. That's good because his marks in science in grade ten were really quite atrocious." Sheldon sighed in relief.

Penny nudged him with her shoulder. "So what else is in the Book of Secrets?"

"Not enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the plan only goes to step ten. Which brings us here. I don't know how to proceed from here."

"Well." Penny grinned, flipping through the first few pages, noting the steps and how he'd faithfully carried each one out, with his own Sheldon twist to it. It was sweet how he'd put so much work into wooing her, that he had worried about it so much. "You could always repeat steps one through ten, in a never ending loop." She suggested.

He froze, putting down his clipboard. "That would work?"

"Oh yeah." Penny leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "For sure."

He turned his head so he was looking down at her upturned face. "A hypothesis like that needs testing."

She smiled. "Lots of it?"

He nodded, and leaned down, pressing a quick kiss on her lips. She blinked up at him, and then slid her hands around his neck and kissed him, thoroughly.

"Alright." He whispered into her hair a short while later. "Step One: Be Appealing."


End file.
